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i appreciate all the suggestions I received and owe you a follow up. After further diagnosis in the air and on the ground I can say with confidence that there is a problem with the relay switching when the preamp is powered through the coax. When it occasionally engages it works great and I had a string of QSOs on SO50 last night to prove it. I spoke with ARR on the phone today and they confirmed it's likely a relay problem and that I should return it for a new board or relay. I'm concerned that it wasn't diagnosed the first time I returned it just after buying it. And of course there are those multiple trips to the roof at age 66! For the time being I'm back on the air with my old, somewhat noisy Mirage. 73, Rick W2JAZ
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Glad to hear you have found the problem. It may not even be the relay board itself. I have over the years found problems with powering preamps from the ground through the coax. This was especially trued when the rig itself was suppose to supply the 12 volts. I found that by the time the voltage reached the unit, it was less than 12 and have found that the preamps where very sensitive to the amount of voltage. The closer to 13.8 you can be at the preamp usually the better.
Reid, W4UPD
On 9/14/2015 6:37 PM, Richard Lawn wrote:
i appreciate all the suggestions I received and owe you a follow up. After further diagnosis in the air and on the ground I can say with confidence that there is a problem with the relay switching when the preamp is powered through the coax. When it occasionally engages it works great and I had a string of QSOs on SO50 last night to prove it. I spoke with ARR on the phone today and they confirmed it's likely a relay problem and that I should return it for a new board or relay. I'm concerned that it wasn't diagnosed the first time I returned it just after buying it. And of course there are those multiple trips to the roof at age 66! For the time being I'm back on the air with my old, somewhat noisy Mirage. 73, Rick W2JAZ _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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participants (2)
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Richard Lawn
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w4upd